It's Hard to be a Saint in the City
by sudipal
Summary: Along a similar vein as my We Can Be Heroes story, but dealing with scenes from s02e01... and this one's a little less angsty.


A/N: Takes place during s02e01. The gang is investigating the mysterious death of a man found dead on a bus.

Oh yeah, and I don't own any of these characters...

(PS. If people enjoy these, I might consider attempting this kind of thing for every episode.)

* * *

**It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City**

Gene walked back under the arches where they found the murder weapon, passing a man carrying the hammer in a plastic bag. "I want a match on those dabs inside of two days!" he said, before joining Ray, Chris and two others from CID, all standing in a line and grinning.

"Oh my Lord, take a look at this," said Ray.

In front of them, the Master had lined up a row of nearly a dozen uniformed policemen, all wearing pink or green rubber gloves. Hands behind his back, he began pacing in front of them.

**"**Ok," said the Master, relishing even the slightest sense of being in command. "Fingerprint search. Off you go, lads. Like I showed you. In a line, slowly."

"In a line!" he commanded again as the men looked doubtfully at their gloved hands and then stepped forward at random. Oh god, he thought. Even when he tried to do something right, these idiots still managed to mess everything up.

"_Now hands that do dishes_," the on-looking CID members began singing in amusement. "_Can feel soft as your face, with mild green... Fairy Liquid!_"

"Ray," said Gene after a moment. "Bring in Andy Eddoes."

**"**Nah," said Ray. "He's a mugger, Guv, but he's never used a weapon."

**"**But he might've got wind of who's behind this one," said Gene.

At that moment, the Master walked over to join them. "Oh, you're gonna bang heads!" he said. "Let joy be unconfined." Really, his great genius was being wasted here, where rash, unplanned decisions were the norm for everyday procedure.

**"**I am searching for evidence," said Gene. "Running prints past Scotty Yard. Interviewing informants. Thorough and by - the - book." He said those last three words to mock his DI's earlier dialogue, throwing them back in his face. Gene then proceeded to clap the Master on the shoulder and walk away, causing the other CID officers to chuckle. The Master seriously couldn't think of a reason why he was still hanging around these people. Really, it was just as simple as walking away and never turning back (with the possibility of first maiming a few of the more annoying ones), but he had a long term plan; and he would be patient.

He turned around to find a rope stretched across the scene, dividing the underneath of the high arches from the open grassy area where the hammer was found. He frowned. Had someone here actually listened to him? Or were they just messing with him again?

**"**Who cordoned off the scene?" he asked.

**"**I told them it was on your say-so," said Annie, stepping forward.

The Master smiled and lifted the rope for her to come over and join him. He should have known it was Annie. She was so helpful and pleasant. But she was also tough; she'd have to be to survive this job under the circumstances. She could take it all in stride and still manage to rise above it. One could even go far as to say that the Master respected her, an honor rarely ever bestowed upon anyone, especially not a human. The last human whom the Master ever held in high enough regard was the Brigadier, a very worthy foe. But Annie certainly wasn't an enemy.

He also couldn't help but compare her to Lucy. Lucy accepted him, believed in him, stood by him. Annie did that too, but in a different way. Lucy let him dominate her, warp her until she snapped. Annie was strong and confident, and tried to uplift those qualities in others._  
_

_"_Come on," the Master told her. "We've got a bus to catch."

* * *

The Master and Annie stood on the upstairs of the bus, at the front, looking for clues. "Right," instructed the Master. "Go slow, Annie. Take your time." He observed her graceful movements as she began to search. The Master thought her absolutely gorgeous, standing out amongst all this ugliness. But she also had brains, and, with the right training, she could do wonders. She would make a worthy queen when he would one day rule the universe.

He barely took one step before hearing the drums. He gasped, doubling over, both hands pressed to his temples in pain. But it was over as quickly as it started.

**"**You alright?" asked Annie, very much concerned.

**"**Yeah, I'm fine."

**"**What happened there?" she asked, unwilling to let it go. "You're as white as a sheet, you are."

**"**I didn't sleep very well last night," he said, truthfully. "Nightmares. I was dreaming about..." Gallifrey, the Time War, dying in the Doctor's arms. He realized he couldn't finish his sentence without either giving himself away or seeming like a loon. "You know... Where I come from."

Annie sighed, unimpressed. "You mean... woo... Hyde?" She then stepped forward to carry on with the search.

It hurt him just a little that she didn't care, but he knew it was because he had been lying to her. He wanted to confide in her, but, at the same time, he didn't want to lose her. Perhaps if he just told her something...

**"**There was someone-" he began, but was cut off.

"What's that?" asked Annie, crouching down to look under the seat._  
_  
**"**Don't touch it," said the Master.

She took something out of her purse, and said, "I saw this on _Man in a Suitcase_." She leaned forward and picked up the object. "Except Richard Bradford wasn't using a pair of eyebrow tweezers." Firmly between her tweezers, she held up a casino chip. The Master smiled at Annie; like he said before, beauty and brains...

* * *

The Master arrived at the police station, throwing open the double doors and walking into the office. He came upon an unexpected scene in the middle of the room. There was a man sitting in a chair, surrounded by three men in white. Phyllis was holding a clipboard in front of him, and Chris stood off to the side, watching.

**"**Now I'm gonna talk slowly so you'll understand," said Phyllis. "This is not the Magna Carta, just put an _X_! Come on, Asky!"

**"**What's going on?" asked the Master.

"Trying to sign him into the funny farm," she explained before turning back to Asky. "Just sign! Come on."

**"**Where's the Guv?" asked the Master. He seriously didn't have time for this nonsense.  
**  
****"**You don't understand!" said Asky, desperately. "I'm seeing things!" He slapped the clipboard away and tried to leap to his feet, but the three men in white immediately grabbed him. "Get off me!" he yelled.

He struggled free and lunged forward, grabbing the Master by the front of his jacket._ "_No one believes me," said Asky. "But it's true. I see things." The Master tried to push him away, but the man held on tight. "I have visions."

**"**Hey," said the Master, realizing he couldn't hurt the fellow around witnesses; there would be questions. "Hey, hey! Calm down."

"It's horrible, cause I know the truth and no one else does."

**"**Just chill out, ok?" said the Master.

**"**The world isn't what they think," said Asky. The Master just stared at him. "How do you think that makes me feel? So alone."

He grabbed the Master again, howling, "I'm so alone!" The three men in white pulled him away, struggling and still yelling. Phyllis pushed everyone out through the door. The Master watched them go, and adjusted his collar slightly, trying to regain composure. Because the Master couldn't help but wonder what that_ human_ would know about feeling alone.

**"**Don't half make it easy when they're space rangers," said Chris. "No briefs, no statements, no dull stuff. Call the quack, end of story."

**"**He sees things," the Master said, wondering what exactly those things were. Asky was right, the world wasn't what they all thought, so blind to the vastness of the universe. The man in all rights could have been perfectly sane.

**"**Yeah," said Chris. "Poor messed-up sod." He suddenly remembered something. "Oh, we got an ID on the bloke on the bus. George Rails. 51. No record."

"I need to see Hunt," said the Master, starting to walk away toward the DCI's office.

**"**Oh," said Chris. "He's having a little chat with that mugger he's pulled in." The Master turned around and walked out the other way, towards the Lost and Found.

* * *

The Master walked in to find Gene basically manhandling Eddoes. Ray sat on the desk, holding a shiny, metallic canister in one hand_.  
_  
**"**Black suits, Eddoes?" asked Gene. "D'you want an eye in the same color?"

**"**I was at me father's funeral!" Eddoes cried desperately.

**"**Yeah," said Ray. "Well, it could be yours next, pal."

Real class, thought the Master. Kill the guy, sure. But respect the dead. And people wondered why he wanted to live forever... "Guv," he said, trying to catch the group's attention.

"Who's mugging folk with a claw hammer?" asked Gene, leaning in close to Eddoes.

**"**Dunno," said Eddoes. Ray tossed the canister to Gene. "No! Dad!" cried Eddoes.

"Tell the truth," said Gene. "Or I'm gonna kick the crap out of your old fella."

**"**Guv," interrupted the Master. "Do you want to tell the press how we started this inquiry by committing GBH on a pot of human remains?"

**"**We need solid leads," Gene said.

**"**How about the casino?" asked the Master.

**"**Not now, I'm working."

The Master held up a plastic bag containing the chip that he and Annie found at the crime scene inside. Gene looked at it, then tossed the canister of human remains to Ray, who nearly dropped it. Seeing Ray's close call, Eddoes nearly had a heart attack, to which, Ray just pointed and laughed._  
_

___And the Doctor actually wants to protect these people?_ the Master wondered, shaking his head in dismay.


End file.
